


The Night in The Forest

by tnnyoh



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Oxventure
Genre: Gen, Hamilton References, Horror, Scary, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-09-30 08:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17220395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: Against the protests of Corazon, the guild has taken on a job that leaves them lost in the forest on the scariest night of the year, what horors will they face? What is that strange howling sound? and will Corazon ever stop crying in the tent? Find out in this thrilling tale!





	1. The Arrival at Black Hollow

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter up! There's a fun anagram in this one and you get an imaginary cookie if you figure it out.

As the former year passed and the new year began, Each member of the Oxventurer’s Guild decided that they would like a bit of time to be by themselves.

And time they each had.

Merilwen had decided to take some time to be among animals, caring for some fawn that had lost their mother and soothing them until they were ready to head back into the wild.

Dob, on the other hand, had been traveling through some small villages and playing some new songs he had wrote on their adventures, “Meatgrinder” was a resounding hit among the people, but for some reason when he shared it with the group; Merilwen was not a fan.

Prudence had been taking to do some dark bidding for her patron, which she claims involved very little murder and kidnapping, but worded it in a vague way that left it open to interpretation.

And Corazón…

The pirate watched the sun setting from his ship docked in Castor Falls harbor, he had a wonderful view of the sun from where he was, as it was no longer being obstructed by a boathouse that once occupied the spot near where he was docked.

His moment of peace was interrupted when a small child ran towards his ship waving what looked like a letter around and shouting after him.

“Corazón de Ballena!” the child screamed at the top of his small lungs, he was becoming winded at an alarming rate as he tried to vault several stacks of wooden building materials strewn about the place. Corazón supposed he could get off the ship and walk to the child but…

After about two more minutes the child made it to the ship, exhausted and unable to catch his breath, he shoved a letter in Corazón’s face

“For…. you,” he said, clutching his chest and promptly fainting.

Corazón eyed the small lump and then lightly tapped on the kid’s shoulder with his boot “Kid, get up…”

He rolled his eyes as the child barely stirred.

“Come on” He prodded him again with the toe of his boot “You’re getting drool all over my ship”

The child finally awoke and slowly stood back to his feet, with no help from the pirate in front of him, who was holding the letter like it was a bomb.

“This isn’t like… a piece of parchment with a large black spot in the middle of it, is it?”

“Hold it up to the sun, I say it looks like words”

Corazón tilted the envelope and held it in the direction of the sun, the kid was right… It was an actual letter.

He sat down on a barrel and pulled a small knife out to cut it open, he looked up at the child who was cupping his hands together expectantly.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m not going to pay you”

“I ran all the way here!” the child said, indignantly, and stomped his foot.

“Yeah, sorry kid… I don’t _have_ any gold”

“I can see gold spilling out of that small coin bag hanging from your belt!”

“That’s… just my bread bag… Those are rusks…Golden Rusks.”

“That is not rusk!” The child crossed over to Corazón and nicked the whole coin bag, turning on his heel and running off down the harbor.

“Excuse me!” Corazón shouted after him

The child stopped, turned around and stuck out his tongue “You deserve it, ya thieving pirate!” he yelled before making his way back through the harbor.

Corazón sat back upon the barrel and opened the letter, it read

“Corazón, this letter will find you in several days time and it will let you know that we have all reconvened in Black Hollow. We’re staying at what Dob says is a haunted inn, but what I believe to not… be haunted. Please head out and find us!

We’ve missed you!

\- Merilwen“

The rest of the pages were filled with drawings from Dob and Egbert depicting some of the things they did after solstice. He stuffed the papers back and jumped up from the barrel.

He went down to his map room below deck and studied the map, once his eye spotted Black Hollow, he marked the most convenient route, the trip wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours at the most. He was to set sail right away, making haste so he could meet with his friends.

\- - - -

The town of Black Hollows wasn’t exactly bustling with activity when Corazón arrived, he docked his ship in the harbor, undid the sails and lamented the loss of his coins. He searched around the ship for more gold and only came up with two rusted looking golden coins that may have been there since he got his old crew cursed.

He stepped off the ship and referred back to the letter, the group was staying at “The Landsmen Rook Hotel”

He folded the letter and took a walk around the harbor, looking for someone who could help him find his way to The Rook.

A thin man with suspenders and an over-sized beard covering what Corazón had to assume was a creepy smile, came right up to him

“Howdy there, you looking for some sailors?”

Corazón raised an eyebrow

“What? No, I’m looking for my friends… They sent me a letter saying they came to Black Hollow”

“If they came here, they’d be staying up at the Rook….” The man responded, he stuck out his dirt-encrusted hand, expecting Corazón to shake it. “I’m Three Toe Alan.. What’s your name, son?”

“Uh… Cor..a…Percy”

Three Toe Alan’s expression changed to concern “Who the hell named you Corapercy?”

“No, I… It’s just Percy.”

“Right”

“Anyway, where is the Rook?”

“It’d be around”

“I… I’d have to assume so, but can you like… point me in the direction of where it should be?”

“Look, Percy is it? I have a hearing problem… and I also love coins, you got any coins for me, my boy?”

“I got robbed back in Castor Falls, so no..” Corazón answered the man, who started slowly advancing on him with a look of malice in his eyes

“Ya see, I think you’re lying… I think you have plenty of coins and you’re just holding out on me”

Corazón swiftly grabbed for his rapier and swiped it through the air, Three Toe Alan gulped and backed away as quickly as he could, nearly stumbling over his own feet

“Ah… Okay, I made a mistake and I’m willing to rectify it.” He raised a hand and pointed west “Over that way, big building with an ugly statue out front, you’re not going to miss it”

Corazón sheathed his sword and gave the man a grin “That’s all I wanted to know, have a pleasant evening Alan”

While Alan was having an audible fit behind him, Corazón headed in the direction the man had pointed. It was fully dark and the street lamps were lit, giving the entire area a sort of eerie feel.

Getting through the harbor, he spotted part of an obnoxiously large statue of what Corazón assumed was supposed to be a bear, but looked more like an angry demon.

“Didn’t know bears had horns, did ya buddy?” a voice said behind him. Corazón nearly elbowed the woman in the face.

“Holy… don’t DO that!”

He turned around to see her, she was an older woman with graying hair, braided down to her back. She had a scar on her face and an eye patch that Corazón didn’t want to know what was hiding.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t realize you would be so jumpy” She gave a little laugh “Not a great place to be if you’re a coward”

“Excuse me?” He brushed a finger against the hilt of his rapier, which caught her eye.

“Ah, you’re a coward but you have a sword.” She laughed, it was harsh, loud and caused several cats to rush out of their hiding place behind some bins to escape from the noise.

"What is this place?" Corazón asked the woman, who was still softly cackling. She recovered her composure and put a weirdly deformed hand on his shoulder, it wasn't her hand, it wasn't even attached to her body.

Corazón screamed and knocked the hand straight into the fountain in front of the bear-with-horns statue. The woman gave him a cross expression and went to retrieve it "Might want to keep your damn lungs down, and be nice to my pet"

She bent over and picked up the strange severed hand, which was moving of its own accord and climbing up her arm to perch on her shoulder like a bird would. Corazón rushed away from the woman and made haste to the front door of The Rook.

The building was large and older than some of the treasure he would plunder from time to time. He looked up in awe, someone came out of the building and approached him. His instinct was to get as far away from it as possible, but when the figure came closer into the light. He saw it was Prudence.

“About time” She said with her arms crossed

“What do you mean ‘about time’?” Corazón asked incredulously “I was robbed, some strange guy wanted to steal money I didn’t have and that woman back there? She’s got a goddamn living hand for a pet.”

“Yeah, That’s Susie” Prudence said

“The woman or the hand? Wait, no… Don’t answer that”

“Come up to our room, we’re hanging out and telling ghost stories” She said, walking into the building’s lobby. Corazón looked around at the interior, it was just as impressive as the outside and had a sort of Gothic feel to it.

He certainly felt at home here.

“So what brought you guys here?” he asked as Prudence led him up the side stairs, her room key dangling from a chain around her neck

“Well, I’ll let Dob tell it because he’s the one who got the letter”

“Letter?”

“A piece of parchment with words on it, Corazón”

Corazón groaned “I know what a letter is”

As they walked up the winding staircase, Corazón noticed the strange paintings adorning the walls, still life images of children laughing, rotten looking fruit and landscapes that shouldn’t exist.

When they came upon the landing a bat flew out from the chandelier, Corazón instinctively screamed, covering his head with his hands.

Prudence took this opportunity to laugh derisively “Corazón, seriously? We’ve seen legitimate fish people, demons, children.. and you’re afraid of a bat?”

“I’m not… afraid of a bat” He straightened up “I’m just… I don’t want my hair to get messed up”

“Where’s… your hat?” Prudence asked

“Left it on the ship” He shrugged “Don’t need it right now”

They approached a rather ornate looking door at the end of the hall, Prudence took the chain off and fiddled with the key until it clicked. She pushed the door open to reveal a larger room than Corazón expected. It looked more like a small apartment than one room of a resting place.

Merilwen, Dob and Egbert were each involved in their own activities on different sides of the room. Dob spotted Prudence and Corazón and smiled, setting his lute down on the table and practically flinging himself across the room, before Corazón even knew what was happening, he was pulled into a back-breaking hug by the half-orc.

“Corazón, buddy!” Dob said cheerfully “How’ve ya been?”

“I…” Corazón tried to speak as the tightness in his chest magnified “I was better when I could breathe…”

Dob let go of him and stepped backward “Sorry” He said sheepishly “Sometimes I forget how strong I am”

“Well, I’m not going to forget that for some time” Corazón rubbed at his arm

“Corazón was robbed, everyone” Prudence said “He was robbed by a child, almost assaulted by a man who wanted his coins, and accosted by Susie when he was outside”

“Aw, I love Susie” Merilwen chimed in “She’s so lovely”

“Again… is Susie the woman or the…” he shook himself “Nevermind, I don’t want to know”

“Sorry you were robbed, buddy” Egbert said from the corner. He appeared to be whittling something out of a large chunk of wood, but it wasn’t formed enough for Corazón to be able to tell what it was supposed to be.

Dob went back to the table and grabbed his lute, strumming out a few practice chords before finding his footing and melody.

_Our pirate friend is back_

And he got robbed

He must be sad

My name is Dob

He looked up from his lute with a smile and Corazón shook his head, sitting down in a rough looking wooden chair by the counter.

“So, Dob.. Prudence here tells me you got some kind of letter?”

“Oh my goodness me, I forgot all about that! Right… so” He pulled a letter out of a pile of papers littering the table and unfolded it “The gist of it is that we were invited here to help someone get rid of crims. Crims that live near the local forest and are causing some trouble. She heard about our exploits and thought we were right for the job”

“How long have you guys been here?”

“Just a couple days, we wanted to wait for you before we took her job. She’s paying very handsomely for this.”

“For just a couple crims in the forest? That sounds ridiculously easy”

Dob shrugged “She made it seem like it’d be really difficult, I wasn’t about to argue for less money”

“That’s not true” Egbert said “He was one hundred percent about to say we could do it for less money”

“So, when are we going to do this? I’m itchin’ to stretch the ol’ Eldritch Blast fingers”

“It’s the middle of the night”

“So?”

“Yeah, are you scared of the dark, Corazón?”

“Obviously not” He huffed “I’m a pirate. We’re in the dark all the time. That’s like half of being a pirate”

“Where do you go that it’s so dark, Cor?” Egbert asked

“Caves, dark… winding caves… Caves you could get lost in, caves you could lose yourself in.”

“He’s doing it again,” Dob said, his eyes pleading for help from anyone else in the room, everyone but Merilwen avoided his helpless gaze.

She yawned and closed the book she had been reading from, setting it carefully down on the bed and looking at the room at large.

“I do think we should go soon. I mean, we could head to the criminals stomping grounds and catch them off-guard”

“But criminals are going to be out at night, you know… to steal stuff. They won’t even be there” Dob argued

“Ah, yes but we can come there, set traps and then when the crims come back… They’ll have a right little awakening”

“Exactly, thank you Corazón.”

Corazón gave Merilwen a little theatrical bow, as if he had just performed the greatest scene in all of history.

“Alright, back your bags. It’s time for work.”

“I don’t have a bag”

“Not… ugh, lets just… get your stuff and we’ll go.” Corazón said with an eye roll “But maybe we can wait like ten or twenty minutes because if Susie is still out there I might lose it”

“She’s totally harmless”

“Yeah, she may be armless but she’s got a creepy disembodied hand”

“I said _harmless_ , not armless”

“Doesn’t matter, Merilwen.”

“Susie’s adorable” Dob chimed in agreement with his wood elf friend “Absolutely the cutest thing I’ve ever seen”

“I… I may regret asking this but… are we…. talking about the woman or the hand?”

He shook his head and put his hand up before anyone could answer “Never mind, I don’t want to know”

“So, it’s settled then?” Egbert asked “We’re heading to the forest?”

“Yep, we’re going to kill us some criminals and then be out of here before lunch tomorrow after we get payment”

“Can I bring my bombs?”

“No, Egbert….”

“Please Corazón?”

Corazón let out a weary sigh and shrugged “Alright, but when did I become this team’s exhausted father?”

“You can’t be a father if you don’t have a father” Dob said matter-of-factly

Merilwen gently grabbed his arm “No, Dob… sweetie, that’s… None of what you just said is alright”

Corazón glared at Dob for a moment before addressing them as a group “Alright, everyone ready to head out?”

“Aye!”

“Then let’s kill us some crims!”

 


	2. Is it a spectral fish?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Oxevnture Guild has been bamboozled by their newest employer which leads them to discover a hidden mystery that only they (or someone equally qualified) can solve.

“I can’t believe you let him bring his bombs into the woods,” said Merilwen while eyeing Egbert as he dropped yet another bomb clumsily at his feet as they made their way deeper into the forest. He glanced over at Egbert for a moment before turning his attention back to the path.   
  
“Egbert, buddy… why are you holding all your bombs like that?”

“There’s a tear in my bag” He answered simply, holding up a tattered looking bag

“Right…Okay, moving forward, where are these guys supposed to be anyway?” it had been about an hour since they left the inn and everything around them in the forest was starting to look the same, Corazón could have sworn he saw the exact same spindly tree with the carvings on it several times already.

He was leading them in between the thick trees, holding a torch above his head. Though he had studied magic and was even capable of performing certain spells, he wasn’t attuned enough to be able to see without torchlight, whereas the others were.

“We’ll find them eventually”

“Eventually? I mean.. I don’t want to die out here in the woods”

“Are you afraid of the forest or something, Cor?” Egbert said with a grin, a strange thing to see a six-foot dragon man do.

“What? No? You are. I have no idea what you’re talking about”

“I don’t want to alarm you guys…” Corazón said, looking around the empty clearing. “But there’s absolutely nothing here, or anywhere we’ve been in the last six hours”

“Come on,” Dob said “We should keep looking… the woman did say this was the regular haunt of these crims”

“Haunt? Like…ghosts and … _spirits_?”

Corazón, who was more or less always a little bit on edge, was paler than his friends had ever seen him, as if all the color had drained out of his face, he stopped walking, turned towards Dob and handed him the torch as he sunk down to one of the logs.

“Buddy?” Egbert said, approaching Corazón slowly “It’s just a forest”

Somewhere out of the range of the torchlight, there was a loud cracking sound, as if someone had stepped over a twig and it snapped under their weight.

“What was that?” Prudence asked

“Stop trying to scare me”

“Are you seriously pretending not to hear that noise?”

Corazón stood suddenly and gave an obviously put on yawn “Well, it’s been a long night, we should head back to town and regroup”

“I’m feeling a bit miffed” Dob admitted “Do you think that woman lied to us? We’ve been out through this way at least six times and if there was a camp… where is it?”

“Good idea Dob, we’ll go back to town and confront this woman, find out what her game is”

“Uh, Cor... That’s not what I was-” before Dob could even finish speaking, Corazón had turned back towards the way they had come.

“Where did he just…” Egbert asked

“Merilwen, go ahead of us and hit Corazón in the back of the head,” Prudence said as the rest of them started on their way back out of the forest

“That’s not nice”

“Fine, I’ll punch Corazón in the back of the head when we get back”

It didn’t take long for them all to meet back up with Corazón who was standing at the edge of the forest and casually flipping a coin in his fingers.   
  
Dob and Merilwen shared a look before approaching him “Buddy…” Dob said slowly

“Yes, Dob?”

“You just sort of… ran out of there”

“Your point?” Corazón responded in a rather bored and listless tone

“What he’s saying is you’re a coward and we should all laugh at you” Prudence added

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, maybe we should go find that woman who's been lying to us and get the money we deserve for doing nothing, yeah?” He said, starting to walk away from the rest of the group.

Dob, who had been holding the torch Corazón had handed him earlier, dropped said torch as he hastily jogged to catch up with his pirate friend, ignoring the panicked squeal of Egbert as he tried to stamp out the fire that was now starting in the grass.

“You know that wasn’t me saying that back there, right?” He asked, a touch of concern in his voice “I mean, we’re all scared of something. I’m absolutely terrified of beetles”

Corazón raised an eyebrow “Dob, you lived in the forest your entire life…”  
“I lived in fear of the ever-growing population of Coleoptera is what I did,” He said somberly, looking up at the moon “But anyway” he shook himself out of his reverie, “Nobody thinks your a coward.”

“Prudence does”

“Prudence thinks everyone is a coward, but I bet there’s something she’s afraid of. We’re all afraid of something, I’m afraid I’ll never find my sister”

“Wow, Dob. I think that’s the most honest you’ve ever been with any of us”   
Dob shrugged slightly as he and Corazón started to walk back towards the town again, the rest of the guild walking a ways behind them.

“It’s just the way I’ve always lived, I don’t much care for sharing my own problems with others, how would that solve the problem?”

“Well, I mean… I don’t know if you remember that I was almost killed by zombie pirates a while ago, but if I didn’t ask for help I don’t think I would have had it in me to evade them again”

The wind was howling and blowing stray leaves on the ground around their feet as they marched on, there was a fog coming into the night and the atmosphere was thick with a strange feeling.

“I’m just saying, opening up to people, admitting that you need help... It’s not always a bad thing, Dob” Corazón continued “Sometimes, if we can’t do something on our own, it’s nice to have a helping hand. Like… I wouldn’t be able to steal all the gold I steal if it wasn’t for you and the others”

“You also would have more gold if it wasn’t for me and the others”

“I wholeheartedly agree, and I’m glad you said it”

It didn’t take Corazón long to realize that he had no idea where he was going, he stopped walking so suddenly that Dob nearly walked straight into him.

“Uh, Dob... Why am I leading the way when I don’t know where I’m going?”

“Oh, uh… Right… It’s because I forgot, and sometimes I like to let you go first because I’m sensitive about being taller than everyone else in the group”

“Not as sensitive as I am being the smallest person in our group,” Merilwen said, coming up on the other side of Dob

“I’m really sensitive about my large head” Egbert chimed in from behind Merilwen

“ _We know_ ,” everyone said in unison

Dob took the lead, Corazón falling behind as the half-orc lead them to the center of the town, there was a large fountain with benches on either side of it.

“Dob, this isn’t.. why are we back at the town square?”

“Oh, I wasn’t leading us to that lady’s house, there’s a food cart that’s going to come around here in a couple of hours and I’m starving”

“Seriously” Corazón groaned

Prudence, Egbert, and Dob all sat on one of the benches “He’s got a point, I’m a bit hungry too”

“So none of you care that we’ve been tricked?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because she didn’t pay in advance!”

Merilwen, who was also standing and crossing her arms nodded “Corazón’s right… I’d like to know why we wasted our time here”

“If it’s so important to you, why don’t you go up to her house and find out,” Dob said, he leaned over and pulled a piece of paper out of his adventurers pack “She gave us a map to get back to her house”

“You expect me to go up there by myself?”

“Nah, Merilwen could go with you…”

“Good point, I should go with him to make sure he doesn’t beat the woman up”

“Hey! That’s not fair… I wouldn’t beat her up”

“No, you wouldn’t. You would wait until her back was turned and then you’d try to pickpocket her… Like you did to me that one time”

Corazón grinned proudly “I’m still happy about that”

“You didn’t steal anything, and I knew you were trying to the whole time…”

“Master of stealth” Corazón said, grinning into the distance

Merilwen took the small map from Corazón and folded it into one of her many pockets, she took one last look at the others before beckoning Corazón to follow her up towards the gate and the woman’s home.

It didn’t take them that long to become completely separated from the others, and several times Corazón wanted to simply turn back, the atmosphere out here was becoming increasingly uneasy, not to mention full of fog.

“How does this not creep you out?” He asked after a while of silence.

Merilwen took such a long time to respond to his question that he was sure she didn’t hear what he had said, he was preparing to ask her again when she finally answered “I think it’s because I know nature is of no harm to me. I’ve lived among nature my entire life, I’ve seen the animals, the weather, even at it’s scariest… It’s still my home”

“What about spooky ghosts?”

“I learned a long time ago that to be brave, you have to face your fears. I’ve faced a lot of fears in my life, and each time it’s taught me something about myself”

They approached the gate and what lies beyond, a long winding path up to a hilltop home that gave Corazón goosebumps.

“That’s… a really… Well, you guys didn’t mention how ominous this house was”

Merilwen’s already large eyes somehow became wider as she looked up “It wasn’t… it wasn’t like this earlier”

“What do you mean it wasn’t like this earlier? Houses don’t just… randomly change shape and form, Merilwen!”   
  
"Cora, you're being unreasonable. It's just a house..."   
  
"I'm being unreasonable? me?!"  
  
Merilwen sighed and shook her head, opening up the gate and making her way up the winding path. Corazón stayed behind, stubbornly crossing his arms... The wind picked up again and he let out a tiny yelp before rushing up the path towards the house.  
Merilwen paid him no mind while she knocked on the door, once, twice... She was just about to knock again when the door opened a small bit and a woman's face appeared in the small opening  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"We're some of the people you hired to take care of those criminals living in the woods"  
  
"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss"  
  
Corazón stepped forward "I'm under the impression that you do know exactly what Merilwen here is talking about, but you also know that you misled us and aren't going to pay us for our troubles"  
  
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, and I have my own things to tend to"  
  
"Spectral fish?" Corazón asked in what sounded to Merilwen like a hopeful tone  
  
The woman's expression changed to one of confusion "Excuse me?"  
  
Corazón pushed the door open "Nevermind that, tell us what we want to know"   
  
“Can you please get this rude arse out of my home?” the woman asked, looking towards Merilwen  
  
“While he is a bit rude, he does raise a good point… You lied to us, Miss Mathers”  
  
“I didn’t… lie” She said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot “I simply… uh well…” She sheepishly grinned “There’s a bit of a folklore tale around here, not sure if you’re aware of it or not”  
  
“Spit it out, lady”  
  
“Corazón, please” Merilwen pulled him back by his coat and looked the woman in the eyes

“We would like to know what you really hired us for” The woman sighed and beckoned them to follow her

“Might as well sit down, would you two enjoy a cup of tea?”Merilwen sat down on the nearby chair and nodded

“A cup of tea would be lovely, thank you” she eyed Corazón, who was still standing by the door  
  
.“I don’t like tea”  
  
“I see you drinking it all the time”   
  
“It’s really rum in a teacup”  
  
“I can smell that it’s not rum”  
  
“It’s odorless rum”  
  
“That’s not a thing”  
  
The woman let out a chuckle from the tiny kitchen as she bustled around preparing the kettle “Sorry” she said “It’s just that you two remind me of me and my brother… before he went missing, that is”  
  
She sat across from Merilwen and sighed heavily “It’s been twenty years since he’s gone… I miss him every day ”  
  
Merilwen reached across the table and put a comforting hand atop the woman’s own hand “Tell me about your brother”  
  
Corazón groaned “We didn’t come here to listen to this woman’s sob story about her dead brother”   
  
Merilwen gave him a warning look "Corazón, just let her talk..."  
  
The woman took a deep breath and closed her eyes "The folk tales... my brother, they are related... It's not the first time someone's gone missing in this town, and it won't be the last."   
  
She rose from her seat and crossed to the small bookshelf at the other end of the living room, taking a light leather bound book and returning, she opened it and showed it to Merilwen "It was twenty years ago, we were hanging out near the edge of the forests and... Someone or something took him"  
  
"Who was it?" Merilwen asked  
  
"We don't know... but I don't think it was a who, I think it was a 'what'... Nobody believed me, and they still don't... But I believe he was taken by a monster. And I know I misled you and your friends, for that I am sorry... but I was hoping that you'd be able to find clues to my brother's disappearance... I think he's still alive somewhere... and I need you to help me find him"  
  
"Absolutely not," Corazón said, pulling the edge of Merilwen's cloak "We're going back to find the others and we're getting out of here come daylight"  
"Cor... don't you have any interest in helping this woman?"  
  
Corazón gave the woman a look "No, I would probably help her if she hadn't misled and lied to us but no, I can't"  
  
"You're a pirate, why does it matter so much?"  
  
"I'm a pirate with a little bit of honor, Merilwen"  
  
"Let's get out of here" He made for the door, Merilwen was lagging behind and offering the woman sitting on the couch a sympathetic look as if to apologize for Corazón's entire existence. But she followed him out the door and the two made their way back to the square.

 


End file.
